The present invention relates to electronic devices used to provide information to drivers and more particularly relates to a method and apparatus for utilizing historical data to predict traffic law enforcement patrol locations, speed traps, parking enforcement and road hazards.
It is well known that road condition information is very important to drivers to improve efficiency and safety of travel. In particular it is beneficial to maximize the amount of relevant road information that is available to drivers and present it in an optimally beneficial way. Heretofore, the most common road condition information has been real time and available from radar detectors for locating immediate law enforcement patrol locations, radar detectors equipped with GPS for detecting locations of red light cameras, fixed speed traps and from the Department of Transportation through GPS based vehicle navigation systems for providing real time road condition data.
However, these techniques primarily provide only real time road condition information and do not provide historic and probabilistic or statistical data. More specifically, data available from traditional radar detectors only provides the driver with immediate law enforcement locations with very little warning. Additionally, current generation radar detectors and cell phones equipped with GPS for detecting red light cameras or fixed speed traps only provide fixed location of traffic law enforcement. Additionally, onboard vehicle navigation systems provide only near real time road accident, hazard and condition information. Heretofore, none of the existing driver information apparatus provide the driver with historical statistical and probabilistic data and none predict likely locations of traffic law enforcement, parking meter enforcement patterns, traffic flow or accident information. It is an object of the present invention to provide historic traffic law enforcement patrol information to a user and utilize historic traffic law enforcement information to statistically predict the locations and enforcement profile where users are likely to encounter law enforcement patrols and speed traps.
It is an additional object of the present invention to utilize historic traffic law enforcement patrol citation records to statistically predict the probabilistic locations of traffic law enforcement patrols, enforcement profiles and speed traps.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide historic and probabilistic traffic law enforcement patrol location information and statistically predict the locations where it is more likely to encounter traffic law enforcement, and speed traps and provide maximum safe speeds to avoid citation derived from historical traffic law enforcement data.
It is yet another object of the present invention to utilize historic parking meter law enforcement citation records to statistically predict the probabilistic parking law enforcement patrols and schedules.
It is yet another object of the present invention to utilize historic parking meter law enforcement citation records and preferably current parking meter law enforcement location to statistically predict the probabilistic parking law enforcement patrols and schedules.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide historic and probabilistic parking meter law enforcement patrol location and schedule information and statistically predict parking enforcement schedules and locations.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a method for providing historical and statistical road hazard condition information to drivers. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for providing historical and statistical accident information to drivers.